Thread: Perseverance pays off

Had plans to get into a block I'm hunting on Sunday morning. A number of previous visits has lead me to believe this place runs on a different timetable so crack of dawn is not required here (bit more sleep)
I have been milling about in various spots in the block over the last month or two trying to find more hot spots to add to the slip I already know about. So after spot 1 and 2 for the morning come up short its time to check on said slip.
I have only hunted it at the crack of dawn and the deer that have come off it have all been from 7:00-8:30am so at a little after 10 I wasn't holding my breath.
Well I was wrong. As soon as I got to my look out I spotted two deer feeding with the naked eye so things were looking good. There is however one thing about this spot that isn't very nice........the angle of it and the retrieve! Its a slip ranging from 220 at the top at about 45-50 degrees to about 100 at the bottom looking straight across.

So anyway I get the binos and rangefinder out and have a nosey at these deer. Hind and yearling and due to the condition of the freezer I decide to take the hind. 183 yards is the call but now I just have to wait until she moves out onto the slip more, if she gets hung up at the top half of the slip I'm buggered. Well like a good girl she moves out across the slip nudging the yearling aside. I am now resting on a branch steadying myself for the shot, this is quite a different angle for me so I take my time to place it right. Bang goes the 260 and down goes the hind, down............down........ yes she's cleared the bad shit........down........down....whoa girl you'll go in the river..........down.......out of sight. After she vanished I re gathered myself and noticed the yearling was boosting down after mum. Shit they are agile, I was worried it was going to fall off the slip and kill itself.

So here goes the retrieve, not one I'm particularly fond of. It means dropping down into a river that is flanked by basically sheer bluffs for most of it with small areas to get in and out of. I spend about 30 minutes in the river looking for the spot she has come over, looking under log jambs and under old slip areas etc to no avail. Time for a think. Has she been swept down the river? Nah she must still be up there but man I hope I'm right.

Looking downstream, looks pleasant enough.


Bugger it I'm going up. 30-40 minutes later I get enough elevation to sidle onto the slip. I come out at a handy spot which is a game trail across the slip about a third of the way up. This is the point where the other deer have come down to so what's below me is a mystery at this point. I start to pick my way down the slip, basically sliding on my ass

I get down a wee way the whole time trying to peer over the shrubs and grasses to see if she's down there.

You little beauty!!


I get down there and inspect the animal. Big girl in great condition (pang of regret that she's no doubt carrying a foetus).


I was over there and up a fair way


The bone out job begins and with a shit tonne of meat in the pack I bug out...........which sounds easy but shit this is some steep shit Up, across, down to the river and then up the other side and away to the truck.




About 2 hours latter a bedraggled stinky mess shows up at his truck completely drained but completely satisfied. So far I have seen deer in all four seasons on this slip so long may it continue.

This is not a bush rig and was a complete pain in the arse to carry around but done the job well. The 143 eld x entered the animal low in the chest just in front of the front leg and exited high on the opposite side quite a way back through the ribs. Funny angle that. She went down but cant compare it to anything yet and down was the only way she could go to be fair. The exit hole was about 30mm so not a lot of expansion at 180 yards.

Bet you wish you had a nice light 308 for the carry out

Originally Posted by stug

Bet you wish you had a nice light 308 for the carry out

Its all I thought about!! I normally take my neoprene scope cover too so the Zeiss got a taste of some dirt and shit this trip

Nice scope for bush bashing. I hate steep hills under load. Next time take someone as a pack mule

Originally Posted by sako75

Nice scope for bush bashing. I hate steep hills under load. Next time take someone as a pack mule

My bush rig is possibly heading home this week after its spell at Jenny Craig's, cant wait

Well done mate, tasty result.....

Nice story. Good endeavour.

Originally Posted by Scouser

Well done mate, tasty result.....

Thanks mate, summer bbq's were unkind to the freezer and yeah my 4yo gave me shit for coming home empty handed last time, she just loves venison, sausages being he favourite

Well done @Gibo keep it up, makes good training for a South Island hunt We have heaps of steeeep shit here bro. 30mm exit is reasonable expansion when you think about it

Can I ask the reason for taking the hind and not the yearling @Gibo? No offence meant - I'm still in my very early days so just seeking to learn...

Cheers

Originally Posted by Mathias

Well done @Gibo keep it up, makes good training for a South Island hunt We have heaps of steeeep shit here bro. 30mm exit is reasonable expansion when you think about it

Cheers mate. fair call, I'll leave the terminal ballistic talk for those that know Dead deer anywho

Hi @Matt-j. The reason I took the hind over the yearling was I wanted a bigger volume of meat. The freezer was nearly at rock bottom. A few things went through my mind to come to that decision though.
1 the yearling will be fine without mum at that age
2 although the hind was possibly with fawn my calcs estimated the foetus would only be 2 months old max
3 if I had a mate with me we'd have taken both

Thanks @Gibo - fair call. The first deer I ever shot had a bun in the oven - I didn't know at the time of shooting her. Still tasted good though!

Some say don't shot them from November - March when they are likely to have a fawn at foot. I also feel a bit uneasy knowing there may be a fawn in there too so as it gets closer to the time of birth the more chance I wont shoot or just take the yearling if on offer. It comes down to what sits OK with you mate.

awesome mate, love those kind of recovery jobs, a real test i tell ya

Hamish